Job market's vital signs: Unemployment is down, but many US employers remain reluctant to hire

Saturday

Sep 7, 2013 at 6:53 PM

The AP

WASHINGTON | Just how sturdy is the U.S. job market?That's the key question the Federal Reserve will face when it decides later this month whether to reduce its economic stimulus.The answer depends on where you look.The economy has added jobs for 35 straight months. Unemployment has reached a 4 1/2-year low of 7.3 percent. Layoffs are dwindling.Yet other barometers of the job market point to chronic weakness: